One-piece wear plate



7 April 1949- F. S(-ZHAEFER 2,466,330

Filed March 24, 1948' v INVENTOR. FQSOA'PIC Jcf/HEFEA BY Y (6W w vur, b v

Patented Apr. 5, 1949 UNITED STATES Ni EFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to wear plates for the U-shape brake hanger brackets of railway car brake rigging.

It is among the objects of this invention to provide a one-piece wear plate which will seat tightly in hanger brackets regardless of inaccuracies in their shape, and which presents a large bearing surface to the retaining member that holds the wear plate in the bracket.

In accordance with this invention the central portion of the outer half of the wear plate is thick enough to substantially engage the upper wall of the brake hanger bracket when the plate is seated on the lower wall. Preferably, the

highest part of the plate is provided with small integral projections that tightly engage the brackets upper wall, the projections being fiattened as the plate is driven into the bracket when the fit is extra tight. The thick central portion of the wear plate is provided with a transversely curved and outwardly facing recess extending from top to bottom of the plate for receiving a retaining member, such as a cotter pin, extending through the usual aligned holes in the upper and lower walls of the bracket. To further improve the fit of the wear plate in the bracket, the thick central portion of the plate is tapered upward to a narrow upper surface that extends part way around the retaining member. The inner half of the plate is provided with the usual transversely extending brake hanger seat, but it is located high enough to hold the top of a hanger close to the upper wall of the bracket so that the hanger will be held down in the seat by the bracket itself.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a side view of a bracket containing my wear plate; Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line lI-II of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a view of the outer end of the bracket and plate.

Referring to the drawings, the wear plate I is made in one piece and has a fiat bottom that rests on the lower wall 2 of the brake hanger bracket. The outer half of the wear plate has depending flanges 3 that project down into recesses l in the opposite sides of the bracket. The inner half of the wear plate is provided with a concave seat 5 extending across it for receiving the upper yoke of a brake hanger 6. The plate is thick enough at this point to locate the seat high enough for the top of the hanger to nearly engage the upper wall I of the bracket. This wall therefore serves to hold the hanger on its seat.

Between the hanger seat and the outer end of the wear plate the central portion 8 of the outer half of the plate is thick enough to extend substantially from the lower wall of the bracket to its upper wall. The outer surface of this high or thick central portion of the plate is provided with an outwardly facing recess 9 that extends from top to bottom of the plate so as to accommodate the cotter pin H, or other retaining member, that extends through the usual aligned holes in the bracket. The surface of the recess that engages the pin is substantially semi-cylindrical so that it will engage the inner half of the pin from the top wall to the bottom wall of the bracket and thereby provided a long bearing surface of considerable area. The large areas of contact between the pin and wear plate distribute the pressures over so much surface that material wear of either part, or cutting of the pin by the plate does not occur.

To eliminate unnecessary metal and to provide for a better fit between the wear plate and bracket, central portion 8 of the plate is tapered upward to a narrow fiat surface I2 (Fig. 2) that curves part way around the cotter pin. As the distance this surface extends across the upper wall of the bracket is only about half the width of that wall, the wear plate will seat more squarely and firmly in the bracket, in case the bracket walls are not parallel transversely, than if the top of the plate were as wide as top wall I. To provide a still better fit, it is preferred to form on the end portions of upper surface l2 a pair of very small projections It. If the wear plate is driven into a bracket whose walls are parallel but a little closer together than usual, these projections will be flattened or Worn off by the upper wall which then will engage substantially flat against surface 5 2. If the upper and lower Walls of the bracket are not parallel transversely, the projection it at the narrower side of the bracket will be flattened by the upper wall as the wear plate is driven into the bracket, while the other projection will be flattened little, if any. Therefore, the wear plate will engage the top wall of the bracket at two laterally spaced points to keep the plate from vibrating in the bracket.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained the principle of my invention and have illustrated and described what I now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

I claim:

1. A one-piece wear plate for use in a railway car brake hanger bracket having spaced upper and lower walls provided with aligned holes through their outer ends, the central portion of the outer half of the plate being tapered upwardly to an upper surface adapted to substantially engage the upper wall of the bracket when the plate is seated on the lower wall, said central portion being provided with an outwardly facing recess extending from top to bottom of the plate and adapted to receive a retaining member extending through said bracket holes, and the inner half of said plate having a transversely extending brake hanger seat located high enough to hold the top of a hanger, close to the upper wall of the bracket, said upper surface of the plate curving around said recess and having integral projections on its end portions adapted to tightly engage the upper wall of the bracket.

2. A one-piece wear plate for use in a railway car brake hanger bracket having spaced upper and lower walls provided with aligned holes through their outer ends, the central portion of the outer half of the plate being thick enough to substantially engage the upper wall of the bracket when the plate is seated on the lower wall, said central portion being provided with a recess extending from top to bottom of the plate and adapted to receive a retaining member extending through said bracket holes, and the inner half of said plate having a transversely extending brake hanger seat located high enough to hold the top of a hanger close to the upper wall of the bracket, the upper surface of said central portion having integral projections on it adapted to tightly engage the upper wall of the bracket.

FREDERIC SCI-IAEFER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,705,520 Harbert Mar. 19, 1929 2,066,578 Schaefer Jan. 5, 1937 2,083,784 Harbert June 15, 1937 2,182,746 Light Dec. 5, 1939 

